A member of Occupy the Hood Boston, an activist group focused on social inequities in urban communities, said the group formally separated from Occupy Boston.

Community activist Jamal Crawford said elements such as “racism and white privilege” have been “hindrances to forward progress,” in an e-mail he sent to occupiers, demanding certain things change. “I can’t say all of OB is racist or OB itself is racist [but] we witnessed and experienced white privilege and racism,” he said.

Last week, Crawford sent the “demands” to garner support for OTHB.

The e-mail circulated quickly, getting mixed reactions from protesters, before he was invited to a general assembly to talk about certain requests.

But due to a lack of a quorum, no vote was made on the measures.

Frustrated with the inaction, Crawford said he later received e-mails he claims were “an all out attack on his character” because of his demands and how they were worded.

“The reaction was mixed, and there was certainly some indignation surrounding the wording and tone of the e-mail," said Occupy Boston member Ravi Mishra. "But I don't think the responses were racist at all."

Mishra said Occupy Boston works with members of many communities on a number of projects and it’s unfortunate that one member has a problem with them and they hope to rectify that situation.

“I do not believe it would have happened had I been a white man or not such an assertive black man,” said Crawford.

The same Occupy Wall Street PR geniuses that ruined your morning commute and kept you awake with 24-hour drum circles have invented yet another way to make public life unpleasant in the name of class warfare. They’re calling it “Occupy Black Friday,” and it’s exactly what it sounds like:

The website encourages occupation or simple boycotting of retailers. The group cites a connection between fourth quarter profits for retailers, credit card usage and the stock market as being the source for the protests on the Friday after Thanksgiving. …

In addition to encouraging site visitors to not spend money on Friday, the website encourages occupation, and “Occupy” protesters typically have featured sit-ins, on-site camping, slogan cheering and sign-waving as their modes of protest.

The stores targeted by the protest include Abercrombie & Fitch​, the Burlington Coat Factory​, Neiman Marcus​, Toys R’Us, and Wal-Mart. Noticeably absent from the list? A certain discount men’s suit retailer that usually has massive Black Friday sales.

Meanwhile, some businesses are already bracing for the impact:

Businesses near Occupy Seattle on Capitol Hill say the protesters need to clean up their act and businesses near Westlake Park are worried demonstrators might ruin their Black Friday.

At least 150 Capitol Hill businesses have sent a letter to Occupy Seattle, which is currently occupying the south end of Seattle Central Community College. They say the camp is a health and safety risk, and they want the protesters to clean it up.

The Occupy movement probably thinks it’s sticking it to the man with this protest, but it’s actually the local stores and their employees who are going to get hit with any of the fallout. Poor sales mean more layoffs after the holiday season. Yet more evidence that the Occupy Wall Street movement isn’t actually interested in combating unemployment and advocating for the middle class.

Many in the media and some well-known politicians have characterized those demonstrating against Wall Street and big business as a spontaneous grass-roots movement similar in purpose to the tea party. Well, nothing could be further from the truth.

Let's start with the important differences.

The tea party movement is universally consistent in its emphasis on the return to the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence and eager for the restoration of constitutional governance. The tea party protests are intended to bring attention to the unrestrained compulsion of our elected representatives toward boundless growth of the government and display a total disregard for any kind of fiscal responsibility. They also criticize those businesses that reject free-market capitalism in favor of persuading government officials to enact laws and regulations that favor their industry and reduce their competition. (These businesses are inappropriately referred to as "crony capitalists" when there is nothing about free-market capitalism they embrace.)

Compare these objectives to the Occupy Wall Street crowd.

The Wall Street demonstrators make no distinction between free-market capitalists and crony capitalists and thus want government to control all profits, executive salaries and health care. They demand a living wage and free college tuition at public colleges and universities and forgiveness for all student loans. Ironically, they complain about the freebies given to businesses but demand the government grant them all their freebies. They would effectively destroy our capitalist, free-market system and transform this country into a socialist totalitarian state as well as jeopardize our God-given personal freedoms. This cornucopia of government largesse, of course, would come from the redistribution of wealth, in other words, according to Karl Marx, "From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs." Incredibly, they trust the government to accomplish all this while promoting a growing and prosperous economy.

These fundamental disparities between independent, self-reliant, hard-working and responsible freedom-loving citizens populating the tea parties vs. dependent, socialistic, government-empowering sycophants of the Occupy Wall Street protesters certainly cannot by any stretch of the imagination be considered to embrace the same political philosophy.

Tea party rallies are characterized by spontaneous personal initiative, disciplined gatherings, patriotic pronouncements and lawful behavior. The OWS protesters are organized by paid instigators, funded and fed by union and liberal political organizations, unkempt, undisciplined and unlawful hooligans taunting police and disrespectful of local businesses and private property.

The only link between the tea party and the Occupy Wall Street protesters is that they find themselves on opposite sides of the individual rights spectrum. The former promotes and protects individual rights, and the latter relinquishes them to aspiring tyrants.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The mayor of Los Angeles set a deadline for anti-Wall Street protesters to leave an encampment by City Hall, while demonstrators elsewhere in California took their message about corporate greed to Black Friday shoppers, at times facing off with police.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa lauded the Occupy movement for "awakening the country's conscience," but he said that after 56 days, the encampments that flank the two grassy areas adjacent to City Hall must be removed by 12:01 a.m. Monday for public health and safety reasons.

At an afternoon news conference with police Chief Charlie Beck, Villaraigosa said the movement that has spread in two months from New York to numerous other U.S. cities has "awakened the country's conscience" — but also trampled grass at City Hall that must be restored.

"The movement is at a crossroads," the mayor said. "It is time for Occupy LA to move from holding a particular patch of park land to spreading the message of economic justice and signing more people up for the push to restore the balance to American society."

The camp of about 485 tents was unsustainable because public health and safety could not be maintained, and the park had to be cleared, cleaned and restored for the public's access, he said.

Later Friday, protesters demonstrated in the streets near San Francisco's tony and touristy Union Square during the annual Macy's Christmas tree lighting ceremony, disrupting traffic but otherwise causing few other problems.

Lines of police officers in riot gear faced off with dozens of demonstrators who were trying to discourage shoppers from shopping at Macy's and other stores in the popular tourist area.

Demonstrators used signs to spread an anti-consumerism message. One, 9-year-old Jacob Hamilton, held a sign that read, "What is in your bag that's more important than my education?"

Earlier, some of the protesters from the Occupy movements in San Francisco and Oakland clashed with police when they briefly blocked the city's iconic cable cars until officers pushed them out of the street.

Some of the participants in what protesters called "Don't Buy Anything Day" sat down in the middle of Market Street, San Francisco's main thoroughfare, and blocked traffic while chanting, "Stop shopping and join us!"

"I wanted us both to be here for the children," said protester Steve Hamilton, a screenwriter who traveled to the city from Winters, Calif., with his son Jacob. "I see how the education deficit directly affects the schools; how the teachers struggle with so many kids in the classrooms and a lack of books. It's not fair to this generation."

A group of about 20 Occupy protesters in Sacramento marched from a park to a small outdoor mall where many of the storefronts are empty. A police officer on a bicycle trailed the crowd.

A few puzzled shoppers, many toting large shopping bags, stopped to stare at the crowd as they read a manifesto asking people to support local merchants.

At a Macy's store, the group stayed for several minutes chanting slogans such as, "They call it profit; we call it robbery." Several shoppers crowded around taking photos with their cellphones.

In Emeryville, a small city on San Francisco Bay, more than 60 people attended a Native American community's 10th annual Black Friday protest of the Bay Street Mall.

Corrina Gould, a lead organizer for Indian People Organizing for Change, said the goal is to educate shoppers that the mall was built in 2002 on a sacred Ohlone burial site.

About one-third of the people came from neighboring Oakland's Occupy movement, and Gould said having the new voices was invigorating.

In his comments, Villaraigosa told campers to start packing up their tents and said he believed the move would be peaceful, unlike some of the tumult other cities have seen.

"I'm proud of the fact that this has been a peaceful, non-violent protest," he said. "I trust that we can manage the closure of City Hall Park in the same spirit of cooperation."

Outside City Hall, Occupy LA protester Opamago Casciani, 20, said he found the Mayor's priorities insulting, and he intends to continue demonstrating peacefully through the deadline.

In response to the Mayor's comments, Casciani said "What I got from it is 'I value grass more than the people.'"

Beck said police will be patient with laggards who were working to leave at the time of the deadline — but said the city's law enforcement will no longer look the other way.

"After 56 days of not enforcing three city laws that prohibit the use of that park, the time is now," said Beck.

The kid with the sign that read, "What is in your bag that's more important than my education?" just shows you how ignorant these people are. The sales taxes paid on the items in those bags helps to fund that little dipshit's education. Just further proof that the education system in this country is broken.

Many in the media and some well-known politicians have characterized those demonstrating against Wall Street and big business as a spontaneous grass-roots movement similar in purpose to the tea party. Well, nothing could be further from the truth.

Let's start with the important differences.

The tea party movement is universally consistent in its emphasis on the return to the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence and eager for the restoration of constitutional governance. The tea party protests are intended to bring attention to the unrestrained compulsion of our elected representatives toward boundless growth of the government and display a total disregard for any kind of fiscal responsibility. They also criticize those businesses that reject free-market capitalism in favor of persuading government officials to enact laws and regulations that favor their industry and reduce their competition. (These businesses are inappropriately referred to as "crony capitalists" when there is nothing about free-market capitalism they embrace.)

Compare these objectives to the Occupy Wall Street crowd.

The Wall Street demonstrators make no distinction between free-market capitalists and crony capitalists and thus want government to control all profits, executive salaries and health care. They demand a living wage and free college tuition at public colleges and universities and forgiveness for all student loans. Ironically, they complain about the freebies given to businesses but demand the government grant them all their freebies. They would effectively destroy our capitalist, free-market system and transform this country into a socialist totalitarian state as well as jeopardize our God-given personal freedoms. This cornucopia of government largesse, of course, would come from the redistribution of wealth, in other words, according to Karl Marx, "From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs." Incredibly, they trust the government to accomplish all this while promoting a growing and prosperous economy.

These fundamental disparities between independent, self-reliant, hard-working and responsible freedom-loving citizens populating the tea parties vs. dependent, socialistic, government-empowering sycophants of the Occupy Wall Street protesters certainly cannot by any stretch of the imagination be considered to embrace the same political philosophy.

Tea party rallies are characterized by spontaneous personal initiative, disciplined gatherings, patriotic pronouncements and lawful behavior. The OWS protesters are organized by paid instigators, funded and fed by union and liberal political organizations, unkempt, undisciplined and unlawful hooligans taunting police and disrespectful of local businesses and private property.

The only link between the tea party and the Occupy Wall Street protesters is that they find themselves on opposite sides of the individual rights spectrum. The former promotes and protects individual rights, and the latter relinquishes them to aspiring tyrants.

One of the dumbest things I've ever read in my entire life. Sly, can I please have the 2 minutes back I spent reading this?

All OWS are not Marxists bent on a Bolshevik revolution like the author paints them. In fact, one of the biggest knocks on the OWS crowd is that they really have no standard set of grievances or desires, just a general dislike of the status quo.

Just as stupid as saying all Tea Partiers are birthers, racists, and Christian fascists who want Obama impeached, the border closed, all Mexicans tossed out and Christianity declared the state region.

Blueskies, you obviously haven't been paying close attention to or researching the idiots behind these protests like I have. While most of the protesters aren't Marxists, per se, they are "useful idiots" who are being manipulated by the powers that be behind the scenes. Have you even seen the amount of Marxist, Socialist, or Communist literature, signs, and propoganda that are prevalent at these occupy sites? I have and it isn't pretty. Furthermore, the "useful idiots" don't seem to have a problem being led and endorsed by Communist Party USA, Marxist Student Union, Socialist Party USA, Young Communist League, Democratic Socialists of America, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Alliance for Global Justice, American Nazi Party, Working Families Party, Party for Socialism and Liberation, and many more. Wake up, dude.

Occupy SF activists had hoped to keep shoppers out of downtown San Francisco stores to protest corporate greed, but no matter how hard they yelled, shoppers shoved right on by.

Two dozen Occupy protesters began marching around downtown at sundown, chanting protest slogans. They'd hoped to make their anti-consumption point at the annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in Union Square, but the crowd was so massive they couldn't get near.

The marchers then blocked the intersection of Market and Fourth streets for 15 minutes beginning at 7 p.m., but left when police arrived.

"Don't use credit cards to show love this holiday," said Occupier Michael Byrnes, 31.

Josh Delacruz shook his head as he sold hot dogs at his nearby stand.

"This is just muddled," he said. "You want to shut down Wall Street, fine. But stopping people bargain shopping? Not the right message."

At a news conference Friday afternoon, Mayor Nutter announced that those camping out on the City Hall apron of Dilworth Plaza as part of Occupy Philadelphia had until 5 p.m. Sunday to pack up their tents and leave.

The notice was posted on trees and poles, and handed out to about 300 people in Dilworth Plaza.

"This announcement today serves as the promise," Nutter said of those encamped. "You must remove all of your possessions and yourself from that location within the next 48 hours."

The Occupy Philadelphia movement has been demonstrating at Dilworth Plaza under a city permit since Oct. 7. That permit expires Sunday. Under a new permit granted to an Occupy splinter group Friday, activists may gather at nearby Thomas Paine Plaza, but may not camp overnight.

About 150 people gathered for a general assembly Friday night to discuss the eviction notice, but the meeting degenerated as members shouted at one another over long-simmering internal grievances about how decisions were being made and by whom.

Members of one faction, representing a group of people who live at the tent city and said they spoke for the homeless, took over the meeting. They expressed their hostility to those who do not live at Dilworth Plaza and, in a few cases, physically menaced some people who tried to argue against them.

A group of about 60 people quietly fell away from the meeting and started a separate gathering on the other side of Dilworth Plaza.

Jacob Russell, 70, said the conflict was not surprising because the group is engaged in an "experiment" in direct democracy. "It's a steep learning curve," said Russell, who said his last job was teaching English at St. Joseph's University. "I think it's inevitable that there are divisions."

Russell said that he expected people to come together again, especially when the police arrive to evict them.

The conflict both exposed rifts in the Occupy movement and made clear that while many activists plan to avoid a conflict with the police, others are in a fighting mood - and that might carry into Sunday.

The relocation, Nutter said, will clear the way for a long-awaited renovation of Dilworth Plaza. With the permit approved Friday, Nutter said, the $50 million, two-year project will bring 1,000 jobs to the city in a rough economy.

It's a project "built by the 99 percent, for the 99 percent," Nutter said, alluding to Occupy's slogan, "We are the 99 percent."

The Occupy Philadelphia Legal Collective appealed the relocation Wednesday in a letter to the city's deputy managing director.

"We should not be negotiating space," said Jennifer Starwood, 28, standing with a few other Occupiers in the grimy plaza near the donations tent. "We should be negotiating issues. If Mayor Nutter wants to have a press conference, it should be about these issues," such as "corporate accountability, bank accountability, and government responsibility to us."

The plan come 5 p.m. Sunday?

One young man smirked. Starwood replied: "We're really interested what Nutter has to say to us first." A few moments later, she added: "I really hope the police continue their stance on nonviolence."

Nutter also refused to offer specifics on what might occur.

"I'm not going to predict right now," Nutter said. "I'm hopeful that everyone will take this advice and the promise of a 48-hour notice."

Reasonable Solutions, an Occupy faction that supports the relocation to Thomas Paine Plaza, said it collected more than 500 signatures in support of the limited move.

Reasonable Solutions spokesman Randy Quinn, 31, joined with some of his brethren Friday afternoon at Paine Plaza to declare victory. And something of a win-win.

The city gets to proceed with its redevelopment project. And, Quinn said, the Occupy activists "have shown our ability to peacefully assemble, to have our free speech heard, and to show that we are a force to be reckoned with."

Also, "a winter occupation in a Northeast city may not be the most reasonable thing," he said.

The permit at Thomas Paine Plaza runs for one month, starting Monday, and can be renewed for 30-day periods. Demonstrators will be permitted on the plaza from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Neither tents nor overnight stays will be allowed.

With the number of protesters dwindling and winter fast approaching, the organizers of the ‘Occupy’ movement in Indianapolis have turned to the homeless for help, recruiting them to help maintain the ‘Occupy’ presence in the city.

In an audio recording of a web seminar conducted November 9 between Occupy Indianapolis organizers and the demonstrators, one unidentified organizer can be heard saying, “I feel bad, man. I personally feel bad that we have you guys out here. And there’s … there seems to be really no purpose of it, other than … other than to show that Indianapolis has a physical occupation. You know, cause you are pretty much our billboard for Occupy Indianapolis.”

Occupy Oakland motive for Seattle bank vandalism . by Associated Press and KING 5 NewsKING5.comPosted on November 26, 2011 at 1:20 PM

SEATTLE, Wash. -- Seattle police say someone caused tens of thousands of dollars of damage to a North Seattle bank -- and spray-painted on the building that the vandalism was "revenge for Occupy Oakland."

Nearly all the windows of the U.S. Bank branch on Northeast 63rd Street were shattered or punctured just before 3 a.m. Saturday, as was the screen of the ATM there. The vandal or vandals did not enter the bank.

Some bank customers said there's a better way to get the message across.

"I feel like they could have just sat out here in a tent and voiced their opinion a little bit better and actually spoke up instead of just breaking windows," said Marilyn Shanks-Dizard, bank customer.

Investigators believe the spray painted message was in reference to an incident last month where hundreds of law enforcement officers raided the Occupy Oakland encampment with tear gas and bean bag projectiles, arresting more than 80 people.

why is everyone so convinced capitalism is th best thing to ever happen while soxialism is the root of allevil...

November 28th, 2011, 6:28 pm

TheRealWags

Megatron

Joined: December 31st, 2004, 9:55 amPosts: 12534

Re: Occupy Wall Street

EDIT......never mind, brain cramp this morning

_________________

Quote:

Detroit vs. EverybodyClowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right....

November 29th, 2011, 12:04 pm

Pablo

RIP Killer

Joined: August 6th, 2004, 9:21 amPosts: 10041Location: Dallas

Re: Occupy Wall Street

millam21 wrote:

why is everyone so convinced capitalism is th best thing to ever happen while soxialism is the root of allevil...

Actually, in theory socialism sounds better than capitialism. The problem is human nature. Humans are very lazy when given the opportunity and socialism doesn't encourage hard work and accountability while capitialism tends to reward one for hard work.

Neither is perfect, but socialism when put into practice has typically been a major fail.

The problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other people's money.

In theory it makes sense. But in practice, it prevents success by penalizing it. Think about school. If you studied hard and received the same grade as someone who didn't study at all, would you bother studying? If you earned A's but had to accept C's to allow those that earned F's got an equal grade, would you work as hard for that A?

Ever think hard about the welfare system and why the poorest communities remain poor? If by putting out zero effort, you can have everything you need to get by, why would you put forth any extra effort? When the safety net ends up being a moderate standard of living, most will choose to remain in the net and not try to advance. In the depression, the tent cities popped up with the poor, and disappeared when people were able to return to work. Section 8 housing remains because its profitable for those building those houses, and provides a way of life that is "good enough" for most.

Los Angeles police said more than 200 people were arrested during a raid of the Occupy Los Angeles encampment early Wednesday.

Police Chief Charlie Beck said at a news conference that the arrests were mainly peaceful and there were no injuries.

Beck said an initial search of the camp turned up no drugs or weapons.

Around 500 helmeted Los Angeles Police Department officers burst out of City Hall doors and raced into the Occupy L.A. encampment early Wednesday, some firing rubber bullets while others began arresting a few of the protesters on the south lawn.

"Please do the right thing," one protester yelled at police as they began entering the encampment.

Defiant Los Angeles campers who were chanting slogans as the officers surrounded the park, booed when an unlawful assembly was declared, paving the way for officers to begin arresting those who didn't leave.

In the first moments of the raid, officers tore down a tent and tackled a tattooed man with a camera on City Hall steps and wrestled him to the ground. Someone yelled "police brutality."

Teams of four or five officers moved through the crowd making arrests one at a time, cuffing the hands of protesters with white plastic zip-ties. A circle of protesters sat with arms locked, many looking calm and smiling.

Opamago Cascini, 29, said the night had been a blast and he was willing to get arrested.

"It's easy to talk the talk, but you gotta walk the walk," Cascini said.

The LAPD declared the Occupy L.A. site an unlawful assembly about 12:30 a.m. and gave demonstrators 10 minutes to clear the area or be arrested, LAPD Officer Karen Rayner of the Media Relations Section told MyFoxLA.com.

Police also closed down exits on a major L.A. highway in anticipation of the raid.

Four off-ramps on the northbound and southbound Hollywood (101) Freeway were closed at 10:04 p.m. Tuesday, said Officer Anthony Martin of the California Highway Patrol.

Officers have also shut down a number of streets in downtown near the Civic Center site.

Early Wednesday some 30 Metro buses carrying between 40 and 45 officers drove from Dodger Stadium to the LAPD's staging site downtown. Supervising officers briefed the officers on the eviction at Dodger Stadium, with one telling a group of officers they needed to be prepared for some protesters to fight back.

"They've got a bunch of concrete gravel and other (things) they're going to throw at us," the supervisor said. "Please put your face masks down and watch each other's back."

LAPD Lt. Andy Neiman said police were also prepared to remove protesters who had climbed into trees.

Officers began the raid on the camp two days after a deadline passed for protesters to clear out.

About half of some 500 tents remained in Los Angles after a Monday morning eviction deadline and the remaining protesters showed no sign of leaving their weeks-old encampment, which is one of the largest still remaining in the country.

Demonstrators and city officials were hoping any confrontation would be nonviolent, unlike evictions at similar camps around the country.

The movement against economic disparity and perceived corporate greed began with Occupy Wall Street in Manhattan two months ago, and police have removed Occupy demonstrators in other cities. Some of those instances involved pepper spray and tear gas.

In their anticipation of an eviction, the Los Angeles protesters designated medics designated with red crosses taped on clothing. Some protesters had gas masks. Broadcast footage showed police officers boarding buses that had lined up near Dodger Stadium at what appeared to be some sort of staging area.

Organizers at the camp packed up computer and technical equipment from the media tent.

Two men who have constructed an elaborate tree house fashioned a ladder pusher out of bamboo sticks tied together with twine. It was intended to push down a ladder that police may erect to get them out of the tree house.

Members of the National Lawyers guild had legal observers on hand for any possible eviction that may occur.

Pam Noles, a member of the camp media team, said the park is legally closed at 10:30 p.m.

LAPD spokespeople seemed confident the operation would not take long to complete and predicted that it would be "business as usual" in downtown Wednesday morning.